Beef Noodle Soup (紅燒牛肉麵)

My memories of beef noodle soup go all the way back to my childhood days while living in Taiwan. Back then, my grandmother ran a popular, large szechuan restaurant. Having the privilege on most days of ordering whatever I wanted to eat (with the only limitation being my mother's protest to my grandmother), I often requested beef noodle soup. Whether it's simply the pure goodness of its taste or because it brings back my childhood memories, beef noodle soup has become one of my all-time favorite comfort foods.

My favorite restaurant to get beef noodle soup in the States is A&J's (found in Northern & Southern California and in Maryland). While living in Baltimore, the 45 minute drive down to Rockville was well worth it in order to satisfy my craving.

Sometimes I make my own beef noodle soup. I like using beef shank because the meat is tastier and more tender with the tendon found within. I always eat mine with chopped Chinese sour mustard (酸菜) and a little chili sauce. As my husband decribes it, it "spikes" up the beef flavor even more. It's also important to serve it with a good type of noodle. I like mine with thick, fresh, chewy noodles.

If I am desperate, then I resort to the instant kind. My favorite is:
The only problem with this is that it can only be found in Taiwan. Besides having good flavor soup and non-mushy noodles, it comes with a meat packet with actual tender pieces of meat.

So in the States, if I'm craving instant beef noodle soup, I resort to:


This has a good flavor just like above, but without any real pieces of meat. This is a good midnight snack when I'm craving something savory.